Find an Internship

Internships are available in many fields such as:

• Law and criminal justice
• Health care
• Environment
• Philanthropy
• Children and youth
• Government, politics and planning
• School reform and education
• Community organizing and social justice advocacy
• Social work and community service

Students looking for their own internships are encouraged to check a wide variety of resources, including the following:

• City of Chicago Student Intern, Cooperative Education Intern, and Public Service Internship Programs https://w19.cityofchicago.org/chi_dop/pod_empl.htm
• City of Elmhurst Finance Intern - Finance Department Requirements: Current enrollment in a MPA and familiarity with basic practices of Finance and Administration. Complete and send City of Elmhurst application to: H. R., City of Elmhurst, 209 N. York, Elmhurst, IL 60126. Fax: (630) 530-3311. www.elmhurst.org
• The Civic Federation, a non-partisan government research organization that works to maximize the quality and cost-effectiveness of government services in the Chicago region, does not often offer internships but occasionally has a job opening. See http://www.civicfed.org.
• Congressional Internship, Peter G. Fitzgerald's Chicago office http://fitzgerald.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Services.Interns
• Congressional Internship, Dick Durbin's office http://durbin.senate.gov/sitepages/Services/intern.htm
• The Environmental Careers Organization http://www.eco.org/
• Federal Government Jobs http://dcjobsource.com/fed.html
• The Foundation Center http://www.fdncenter.org/
• Illinois Department of Natural Resources offers internships to students in computer-related fields and law enforcement as well as land management http://dnr.state.il.us/events/intbro.htm
• Illinois EPA Pollution Prevention summer internship http://www.illinois.gov/gov/intopportunities.cfm
• Illinois Legislative Staff Internship Program http://cspl.uis.edu/InstituteForLegislativeStudies/IllinoisLegislativeStaffInternshipProgram/
• Illinois Regional Archives Depositories (IRAD) internships http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/irad_internships.html
• Independent Sector Organization http://www.independentsector.org/
• Law Enforcement Jobs.com http://www.lawenforcementjobs.com/
• National security and homeland readiness jobs http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/homeland.asp
• Peace Corps http://www.peacecorps.gov/
• Social-service related fields http://www.socialservice.com/
• State of Illinois Governor's Office internships http://www.illinois.gov/gov/intopportunities.cfm
• StudentJobs.gov http://www.studentjobs.gov/
• U.S. Government Manual http://www.gpoaccess.gov/gmanual/index.html

Most internships take place during business hours Monday through Thursday, and are generally uncompensated or pay a minimal hourly wage.

Once a student accepts an internship they must formulate a project with an MPPA instructor and sign up for an MPPA 499 Independent Study by submitting the 499/590 Intent to Register form (PDF Format) and registering on CAESAR. The course will count as an elective. Only one Independent Study/Internship per student is allowed. Instead of an internship with an outside organization, students may use their current job for the Independent Study/Internship on the condition that a research project and data, specifically developed at your job, are used and the appropriate faculty guidance is secured.

An organization hosting a student internship must submit guidelines for SCS to review. The intern's supervisor must contact the student's independent study instructor three times during the term to report on the intern's progress. Before the end of the 10-week independent study term, the intern's supervisor must submit a written evaluation, via email, of the student's performance to the instructor teaching the independent study, based on clearly defined tasks and research goals. This evaluation will factor into the 499 Independent Study grade the student receives from the instructor. The student must also maintain regular contact with the independent study instructor, and follow the terms of the independent study project.